Chapter 1227: The Era of the Young Generation

Ten years ago, no one thought Sabo was still alive. Not only Luffy and Ace, but even Dadan cried her heart out.

Although she always said she hated this group, wishing they’d disappear, Dadan, who fulfilled her role as a foster mother, cared about them. Dadan, the mountain bandit, had put in far more effort than the trio’s nominal guardian.

No one expected that Sabo was saved by Dragon when he came home and was cultivated into a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Army.

The noisy audience shouldn’t have drawn the attention of the arena participants, but Sabo was different—he had long since noticed Luffy and Ace and planned to surprise them.

Seeing Ace and Luffy’s bewildered expressions, he felt his goal had been achieved.

“You guys really… haven’t changed a bit.”

Sabo mumbled to himself as he looked that way. The explosion left only a scar on his face, stimulating his brain and causing him to lose some memory, his body was otherwise unharmed.

As time passed and news continued to stimulate him, memories from before gradually returned. Watching Luffy getting lectured by Heracles, he involuntarily thought back to earlier days.

“Once we’re done here, I should catch up with them…”

Thinking this, Sabo suddenly raised his right hand to catch a spear thrust at him. Just as Gatz announced the start of the competition in Zone H, someone couldn’t hold back anymore, and Sabo felt an intense killing intent.

While most participants were after the Quake-Quake Fruit, this person was different. His sole ambition was to kill Sabo.

“Have we met somewhere? I don’t recall having any grievance with you.”

“You don’t remember? You guys actually forgot such a thing? You overthrew Lord’s nation! My noble status, my slaves, everything disappeared because of you! How can you forget so nonchalantly? All Revolutionary Army scum should just die!”

Under Dragon’s leadership, the Revolutionary Army had been gradually developing and taking action, already toppling several national regimes.

From the perspective of the Revolutionary Army, they were undertaking a great cause. But to royals and nobles, the Revolutionary Army was a band of villains—more detestable than pirates.

Most pirates engaged in plundering wealth. Even if someone was robbed, the royal capital wouldn’t be harmed.

But the Revolutionary Army was different. As Dragon expanded his steps, they truly dug at their roots.

“Sir Viril from the Tataco Kingdom was the first to launch an attack! It’s said he came to compete to gain power for a restoration, but his wish is likely to be thwarted!”

Gatz watched as Sabo crushed the opponent’s spear with one hand, then rotated his arm, striking the opponent with a pipe in the other hand, knocking him out right on the spot.

Gatz had relatively complete information, aside from a few outdated details due to timeliness. Thanks were due to the Navy’s wanted posters.

Wanted posters marked more than bounty—they indicated names. Typically accompanying wanted posters were simple summaries about such individuals, like abilities and affiliated factions, though these weren’t often discussed.

But such information was crucial for commentators like Gatz. Unless it was an era-old relic like Redfield who disappeared decades ago, he could usually find some impression, preventing him from being at a loss for words.

Nowadays, anyone who could hold a top position in a major faction was no pushover—except Buggy.

For Sabo, there weren’t any difficult opponents in this arena. Most were at the level of being knocked out with a pipe, as for Yamato…

This one was indeed quite strong, but Sabo had no intention of getting involved with her. His target was that remaining entry, he didn’t need to be stronger than Yamato, just last longer than the others.

“Want to guess how long the young lady will take to finish this match?”

“No clue, depends on her mood. If she wants, a half-hour fight is possible. If not in the mood…one minute?”

“I think 30 seconds is enough, maybe even quicker.”

Speed and the others, having finished their battles, started predicting how long Yamato’s fight would last, discussing how she would end the match, with a wager on the line—exemption from deck cleaning for the next month for the winner.

Yamato didn’t let them wait long. Watching the fight scenes that resembled children brawling, she opted for the most direct approach.

“Let’s wrap this up quickly—the finals should be much more interesting than this.”

She came out to seek refuge; her initial reason wasn’t competing. Even if she needed to pass time, meaningless battles wouldn’t be her choice.

Since entering, she hadn’t shown any intent to use weapons.

“This woman… has a reward of 2.9 billion?”

“No idea, I couldn’t tell. Want to try? If we defeat her, we could instantly achieve fame and glory.”

With Yamato having not made any moves, some inexperienced folks started developing ideas about her. But before they could act, an overwhelming aura spread throughout the arena centered around Yamato.